Kraken

Kia ora, Sorry this has been such a long time coming but as promised here is a, hopefully final, update. In the end I ended up replacing the condenser, expansion valve and receiver drier. Once we got in there it became apparent why the second compressor failed.....a lot of swarf in the system. Yes those hemispheres in the compressor should be attached to the 'pistons' but have smashed off! The compressor was absolutely destroyed inside. Massive thanks to Anthony and the team at Norman's in Dunedin. If you need a fix on the south island of NZ he is your man! I've put up several photos which hopefully will be of help to others in the future as there were a few other things that came up along the way. As indicated by agentdr8 everything is accessible with removal of the front clam, although a lot of hoses need to be disconnected to wriggle the airbox etc out of the way. The air/heaterbox (part containing the evaporator) itself was not well designed, it kind of sits at an angle allowing water to accumulate in it. If you ever have a damp smell I suspect this could be a source. On mine one of the drain holes below the windscreen was blocked so probably an excess had drained in. The evaporator was consequently pretty corroded, so took it out and cleaned. Another reason was that the housing around the evaporator has 4 drainage tubes but they all have a rubber valve closing them. On mine none of these had been opened (well one was kind of) so they all got snipped open. Also drilled a couple of 3mm holes in the bottom of the angled housing to help further. Due to the water the plate against the TX valve was also corroded so was replaced and backing cleaned/resurfaced. Getting the housing of the evaporator airbox open was also a challenge, there is 'secret' screw inside the rubber bung that needs a long reach screwdriver to access. The last thing we did before reassembly was add a finer mesh behind the grill to try and stop future stone damage of the condenser. Looks just about okay but dont really notice it once installed back on the car. Lastly, the captive nuts on the front clam broke away so we had to fix with a couple of washers. With an oil change, break fluid change and anti-roll bar bushings replaced it was ~20-25hr of labour. A lot of this was getting the air/heater box out as had to disconnect several hoses to the radiator and then refill/bleed them all. thanks again for all of the advice to allow me to get to this stage! Pete

Sorry it has been a while. Taken a while to get the bits to NZ. I found the compressor on Amazon, Denso 471-1618. Direct from them so should be genuine. Seemed to be the cheapest place. The receiver drier came from Geoff at Espritengineering, part A132P6011F. Geoff was great getting it away from a fairly locked down UK. Was ready to install but still puzzling why two failed in a row so looked a bit more closely for leaks. Finally found a small leak in the condenser so a new one hopefully coming from Geoff as well. As I've had two compressors fail there might be plenty of swarf so whilst in doing this it would make sense to replace the TXV expansion valve. However, it looks like this needs the dash out rather than accessing through the front. Has anyone found a way to get to the expansion valve without the dash out? I want to avoid another 7 hours of work (although I could fix the airbag cover if I do). I'll update part numbers for the condenser and valve once they arrive. Thought I'd also add a photo of the Evora with an older 'relative' at a recent British car run at the bottom of the world. Not enough Lotus's so we were classified as 'other'.

On mine there is a sticker on the inside of the tail gate (left side of glass) saying HFC134a 625g. Can anyone confirm 745 vs 625?

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. Pacederon: They didn't test the trinary switch (or receiver drier) so I've already been elsewhere. I'll make sure the current garage looks at it before replacing the compressor again. Though I think the switch is probably working as the system is now depressurised and the A/C no longer tries to engage when the switch is on. I believe you can get to the receiver drier through the front right wheel arch so hopefully the switch can be accessed there too. Bruss: I'll try and update with a fix (I hope!). For now I can at least give you the compressor part # from Denso 471-1618, this was a straight swap. The receiver drier seems to be available from a few Lotus parts stores online, A132P6011F. EGTE: I haven't checked the condenser so will add to the list. The fans do kick in when the engine temp is high (can't check the A/C activation of them as depressurised). Does the ecu trigger the fans as soon as the A/C is switched on, or just when compressor is engaged?. In terms of overheating, maybe I was overly concerned, I checked with torque pro and temp isn't getting beyond 100c, mainly around 95c when idling which is just below the fan cut in. A few revs on the driveway increased the temp enough to get the fans on at half then full speed. If I shift earlier in traffic I can keep it below the mid-way mark so maybe working it a bit too hard with too little airflow. I'll keep you updated.

Kia ora, Sorry if this is mentioned elsewhere but I couldn't find anything specific. The AC compressor on my 2010 Evora seized late last year. Through the forums I found the replacement model and ordered it new direct from DENSO. Everything was good for 3 months and then loss of AC again. Diagnosis...compressor is again seized. There is a chance this is due to bits of swarf from the previous compressor (for some unknown reason the garage did not change the receiver drier 😒 because the flush looked clear). However, another reason they mentioned could be rapid loss of refrigerant and then oiling. Using a UV light there is dye on the pulley and the undertray suggesting that the refrigerant was forced through the front of the compressor. The garage said the pressures were good but I now have some doubts. Has anyone here had rapid failure of a new compressor? The garage is also concerned about heat, the compressor gets incredibly hot. Does anyone know if the original Lotus compressor was modified in anyway to handle the heat issues in the early Evora engine bay? Can anyone point me to a solution people have used to try and reduce the engine bay temp (fans etc), my temp gauge sits just above half in traffic? Given I'm at the bottom of NZ, the air temp isn't that high! (in fact, unless there are many at the southern tip of south America it might be the most southerly Evora in the world). thanks Pete

Old thread but helped me out recently. I got an actuator from a 05 Hyundai Elantra (rear door, either side will work, need the 5 pin connector version). Same actuator but slightly different bolt pattern for mounting. Probably fairly easy to modify (drill new hole in mounting bracket). However I thought I'd check what was broken in mine before I did any drilling. Turned out mine was just a rusted motor. I 'eased' open the plastic casing on both actuators and swapped the motor over. Re-sealed with super glue and silicone. If I do it over I'd just open the actuator housing and check the motor. You can get them on Amazon for less than $10. I think it is the standard size with a D spindle (see photo). The swap took 10 mins, the lock removal and reinstallation was another matter! Hope this helps.